


Secrets

by The_Never_Forgetters



Category: All For The Game - Nora Sakavic
Genre: M/M, Trans Character, Trans Neil Josten, ftm Neil Josten
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-15
Updated: 2020-10-23
Packaged: 2021-03-08 18:55:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,162
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27021619
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_Never_Forgetters/pseuds/The_Never_Forgetters
Summary: Neil Josten spent most of his life on the run. Most of that time was hiding his true self. Now he has to navigate a new team, his father, and finally learning how to be the man he’s always been. No more running. No more hiding. He’s got the foxes at his back.
Relationships: Neil Josten/Andrew Minyard
Comments: 5
Kudos: 40





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Don’t bind with ace bandages. Neil didn’t do any research and isn’t very bright. He’s self destructive. He will be corrected. Again. Don’t bind with ace bandages.

Neil’s rubbed at the bandages across his chest, the ash from the cigarette dangling between his fingers falling to his feet. The bandages were wrapped loose enough where he could breathe while running, not much, but tight enough that they hid away everything he needed them to hide. He has just played the last game of Exy he ever expected himself to play and he just wasn’t ready to give it up yet. The high of the game was still running through his veins though and he wished to have it back again but they had lost and Millport wasn’t going anywhere. 

His final goodbye to the makeshift court was interrupted by the sound of his coach approaching him. But there were more than one set of feet. His eyes darted up and he saw Coach Wymack of the Palmetto State Foxes standing with him. His eyes went wide and he barely heard the fact that he was there to recruit Neil to their team. 

His mother would kill him if he knew what he was thinking. That was if she was alive and not buried along the west coast. His fingers went to his chest again and he pressed down against the plump skin that was there. Fuck. She would have killed him the moment he cut his hair and changed his name to Neil. It wasn’t something she understood or wanted for him. There was a long list of things Mary didn’t want for Neil and the top three things she never allowed him to have was Exy, a love life, and the ability to truly express himself as the man he was. 

Exploring gender and sexuality would endanger them and Exy would get them both killed. Neil couldn’t understand her reasoning but he trusted her enough to keep him alive. In the end she was the first to go and left Neil in the middle of the sea with only one thing keeping him afloat.  
Neil couldn’t hear what the two coaches were telling him. Or maybe it was just Wymack that was speaking. The blood rushed in his ears and drowned everything out. He needed to run. There was no way he could sign for a class one school. He couldn’t go to college no matter what class their sports team was. He should have been halfway across the world running from his father by then. Stupid sentimentality. 

His feet hit the ground hard as he raced from the stands and to the locker room. He saw the red light of the exit sign and knew he was home free. That was, until something hard whacked against his stomach. 

All the air left in his lungs left him and he fell to his knees. He gasped for air but that only tugged the bandages tighter and he reached a hand up to tug on one of the ends. It loosened as soon as he tugged on it and he slumped forward to hide the truth but in a desperate attempt for air. He tilted his head up just enough to see blond hair and a mocking smile. Only if he could get a breath in he would wipe that smile off his face but all he could muster was a simple “Fuck you.”


	2. Chapter 2

Neil couldn’t believe that he was in South Carolina. Couldn’t believe that he had signed with the Foxes. Couldn’t believe that Aaron was driving him to Wymack’s place. All of it should have been impossible. 

He should have been back in Millport or...well he never thought of a plan for after he graduated. It would have been a good idea to head further south. That would have been nice staying somewhere warm. His father and his men would probably stay away. 

But no. South Carolina. Stuck with a team that was almost always talked about because of how bad they were and for the fact they now have the Kevin Day on their team. 

The thought of working side by side with Kevin still twisted his insides but it didn’t look like he recognized him at all when they first saw each other. If he had Neil wouldn’t have cared how many Exy racquets hit him, he would have ran for his life. 

It also helped that Neil was Neil and not...well he didn’t like that name anymore. Never liked it. Too much like his father’s and too...well it wasn’t his name. He cut his hair, the first time he did it and saw his reflection he nearly gagged. He was a spitting image of his father. He dyed it after and kept it dyed. 

The heat from outside was still sticking to Neil even after being in the car for a few minutes. It made the bandages around his chest rub against his skin. It would probably irritate it so much to the point of bleeding. 

He shot a look at Aaron, glad that he got the civil twin for the ride, and leaned forward to hide what he was doing. The sudden movement though must have caught his eye because he spoke up. 

“Got an itch?” He asked. There was no malice or anything behind the words. It didn’t even sound like he cared. 

“Why are you driving me and not Coach Wymack?” Neil asked expertly deflecting the question. 

“Coach has some things to do today. Told us to get you in and settled,” Aaron explained. He shot a glance towards Neil. “I promised we would make you feel at home.” 

Somehow Neil felt like that was a threat more than anything else. He shifted in his seat and looked out the window. He forced himself to pay attention to anything else beside the ache in his chest and the man driving him to his new home for the next few weeks.

The smell of cigarette smoke wafted over to him and he glanced up to see Aaron’s reflection in the window. The hot end gleamed red for a moment as he sucked in and more smoke filled the air he blew out. 

“Smoke doesn’t bother you does it?” He asked. The crack of the window was barely doing anything to stifle the smell. 

Neil flinched at the question. He wasn’t expecting it honestly. He straightened up and glanced at him. “No,” he answered honestly. His mother was in every wisp that climbed into the sky. He wanted to reach out and capture it but he knew he would only find her ashes again. “It’s comforting.” 

Aaron’s eyebrow quirked. “Comforting hmm,” he hummed. 

Neil wasn’t sure if he was interested or not. The answer was the truth. One that he could share. It wouldn’t hurt him if someone else knew. 

It didn’t seem like Aaron was going to say anything further so he turned his focus back out the window. He pressed his head against the glass, wondering how long he could keep this up before someone found him out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don’t bind with ace bandages. Neil didn’t do any research and isn’t very bright. He’s self destructive. He will be corrected. Again. Don’t bind with ace bandages.

**Author's Note:**

> Don’t bind with ace bandages. Neil didn’t do any research and isn’t very bright. He’s self destructive. He will be corrected. Again. Don’t bind with ace bandages.
> 
> Also! I don’t know if I’m going to continue this yet. Let me know if you like it.


End file.
